Real Madrid stay at Wales’s ‘lucky’ hotel ahead of Super Cup clash

14 Aug 2014

The Vale Resort in Hensol, south Wales, has upheld its reputation as the ‘lucky’ hotel, following Real Madrid’s 2-0 UEFA European Super Cup victory over Sevilla in Cardiff (12 August 2014).

The Welsh hotel has built up a reputation in sporting circles as the hotel that hosts the winning side, and last night’s clash between the Spanish cup winners was no exception. The Real Madrid football team and accompanying entourage stayed at the hotel in the two days run up to the match at Cardiff City Stadium and went on to beat their opponents 2-0.

The Vale Resort started to earn its reputation as being a lucky charm as far back as 2000 when Liverpool FC stayed at the hotel and went on to win four of the five games they played in the Millennium Stadium. They beat Birmingham City in the 2000 Worthington final, Arsenal in the 2001 FA Cup final and Manchester United in both the 2001 Charity Shield and 2003 Worthington Cup final. The only game Liverpool lost was the 2002 Charity Shield when Arsenal beat them to booking rooms in the hotel and they were forced to stay elsewhere.

Liverpool is not the only side to put their faith in the Vale Resort. In 2003, the FA had to resolve a row between FA Cup finalists Arsenal and Southampton over who got to stay in the ‘lucky’ hotel by tossing a coin. The Gunners, who had previously won the Charity Shield in August 2002 while staying at the Vale Resort, went on to win the toss and the match.

The lucky run has continued more recently when the British and Irish Lions 2013 squad, who used the resort as a ‘boot camp’ for five days ahead of their tour of Australia, went on to win their test series.
And Wales’s national rugby team, who have been based at the Vale Resort since 2000, have also gone on to win the RBS 6 Nations title four times, including three grand slam titles in 2005, 2008 and 2012.

While Paul Beddoe, sales and marketing director at the Vale Resort, enjoys the myth that has been created around the Vale Resort’s lucky streak down, he believes the service that the hotel provides to the sporting sides plays a big part. He said: “The Vale Resort is used to dealing with the exacting requirements of the best sports men and women in the world, whether this is first class football and rugby teams or Olympic athletes.

“We know exactly what they want and have set teams to meet their every need. This includes a specialist team to look after their stay, a dedicated food and drink team to ensure their pre and post-match diet is just right, as well as a security team.

“Real Madrid came to us with a wish list of food and facility requirements, which were essential as part of their pre-match preparations ahead of the Super Cup to ensure that they were playing at their best. From fresh, organic meats to the exact ratio of sliced boiled eggs, specifically two white shelled and one red shelled egg, the dietary requirements were extremely detailed, and it was important that we could cater for their specific requests.

Mr Beddoe said: “It’s always an exciting time when we gear up to host big names, and to have the likes of Wales’s own Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and James Rodriguez stay with us is a real coup.
“These world-recognised names have certain expectations about of the quality of service they experience ahead of some of the most important matches of their sporting careers. It’s credit to the staff at our ‘lucky’ hotel that we have the talent and expertise to ensure that the team requirements are delivered.
“At the Vale Resort we aim to offer all of our guests the same level of quality service, but to host the Real Madrid team, who have a combined value of £500 million, was a real privilege.”